Snowy Drives
by Illusions of Insanity
Summary: Going to the movies is great. When the drive home is in the dead of night through the snow and ice, it's not so great. Especially when your girlfriend falls asleep during the drive. (Modern AU)


Their dates usually did not run that long. They always enjoyed themselves, but they made an effort to head home before dark. Lyra commonly rode her bike to Silver's house and they would drive his car anywhere they wanted to go. Riding a bike in the dark was poor idea and so the couple would try to limit their trips to a certain timeframe. Foolishly, Silver had lost track of time that day. Frankly, he blamed the time change. Who thought falling back an hour in the winter was a good idea? Night fell rapidly as it was; not having a consistent hour at which it darkened was a terrible problem when you take your girlfriend to the movies.

Lyra gently held his hand as the two walked out into the parking lot. The lonesome streetlight gave a single beacon to distinguish the many different cars from Silver's supposed hand-me-down car, the one that was clearly hardly a year old. Despite this, the bright red hood was fairly easy to find.

Silver pulled his keys out of his pocket and clicked the unlock button. The jingling broke the silence as he tucked them away and lead Lyra to the passanger door. He casted her a smug, playful look as he dramatically opened the door for her.

The brunette held back a snicker as she ducked inside the compact car. Her hands pulled her black leather jacket tighter around her. "You really don't have to open the door for me, Silver. Especially when it's below freezing out here."

Silver pulled his keys back out of his pocket and handed them to Lyra. "True...but I like it. Your mother claims I'm a gentleman and a gentleman _must_ open doors for pretty ladies such as yourself," he teased. His hands sought refuge in his empty pockets. "Go ahead and start the heater. This car's probably frozen."

Lyra grabbed the door with a mischievious smile. "I'll definitely do that. Now, please get in the car before you freeze, Mr. Gentleman."

Silver briskly walked behind his car as Lyra shut the door and twisted the keys into the ignition. The car roared to life and Lyra slid the heater to almost the highest setting as Silver slid into the driver's seat. He quickly pulled the door shut and leaned back into his seat. He let his namesake eyes close before he pulled his gloves out of a cupholder and methodically pulled them on.

"Seatbelt," he asked, his eyes still closed tight.

"Yup." Lyra tightened her seatbelt just to make sure before looking to Silver. "You sure you can drive? It's pretty dark."

"I'll be fine," Silver replied. He opened his eyes and placed his hands securely on the wheel. "Luckily, it didn't snow more than an inch or so while we were watching our movie."

"Thank God."

Silver slipped the car into reverse and checked his mirrors. "Besides, I have all wheel drive. That should be enough. There's probably a few ice patches on the roads, but I'll go slow." He leaned back and looked over his shoulder to help him back out of his parking spot. "If it gets rough, I'll switch into four wheel drive."

Lyra nodded and leaned her head back. "That sounds good. Just be careful. We should probably go around the bridge instead of trying to cross it..."

Silver hummed to show he was listening as he carefully drove backwards and angled himself until he could have a clear path to switch gears.

"It will take a lot longer to get to your house, but it's much safer." She absently brushed her bangs back. "They still haven't fixed the guardrail where that truck tore into it," she explained. "The gap it left is so huge, your car could probably slip right through..."

Silver switched into drive and slowly started driving past the cars in the parking lot. "I was planning on going that way, actually. I'd rather avoid Murphy's Law tonight."

Lyra released an awkward, nervous chuckle before she started fiddling with her hands. "I'd rather avoid it, too..."

Silver slowed at the theater's exit, his eyes glancing at the red light before looking at Lyra. "Are you cold? I have a pair of gloves in my glovebox."

"T-Thanks," Lyra stumbled. She carefully opened the glovebox and raised an eyebrow when a neatly folded blanket and a pair of gloves sat on the compartment door. She glanced curiously at Silver, her warm hazel eyes narrowed. "You have a blanket in here, too?"

"It gets cold. I thought it might be nice to have one if you wanted it," he said. The light turned green and the car cautiously rolled into the main road. It lay cold and nearly abandoned, much to his surprise.

"Aww. You know what?" Lyra pulled the gloves and blanket out from the compartment. She draped the blanket over her body before pulling the fuzzy cream gloves on. "My Mom is right. You _are_ a gentleman."

Silver smiled smugly before his cheer quickly fell away. Something made a horrible _whir_ noise below them and Silver flipped to four wheel drive. "I'm sorry, Lyra, but I gotta focus. There's a _lot_ more ice than I thought." He muttered a curse as he slowed down to only fifteen miles an hour. "I can feel it under my tires..."

Lyra watched him before smiling and closing the glovebox. "...Okay. We can talk once we get to your house."

"Sounds great," Silver said quickly, though it was not without kindness.

Lyra leaned back and looked out the window as the streetlights blurred past her. Silver was carefully going about twenty-five in a forty miles per hour zone. She could feel the wheels grinding against the icy patches and the snow under her boot. She closed her eyes and listened to the rhythm of the wheels passing each section of asphalt. The heat slowly rising from the vent beside her flowed under her blanket and provide a perfect amount of warmth. The sounds around her slowly grew muffled before they faded away entirely.

Silver felt his breath tighten in his lungs as he slowly travelled. He knew to take extreme precaution to avoid the numerous potholes that lay hidden in the road, which were now undoubtedly covered by snow and filled with ice. He heard a tire skid and his teeth clenched.

"Why did Violet City choose to spend thousands of dollars to renovate the various government buildings in the area _ins_ _tead_ of filling in these forsaken potholes," he grumbled angrily to himself. "I don't pay taxes so they can let the roads fall apart. I hate driving in the winter. Ohhh, I hate it..."

Once Silver reached the sanctuary of a red light, he glanced beside him. He raised an eyebrow when he found his girlfriend leaning against his passenger window, sleeping contently. A soft smile overtook his face before he returned his attention to the road. "At least now I know you won't try to ride home in this weather," he whispered.

As the light changed, Silver continued his drive. He enjoyed living in Ilex, far away from the bustle of Goldenrod and Azalea, he truly did. The only tradeoff was the horrendous commute to any sort of food or entertainment. That was the only bothersome part of living out of the city.

Well, that and the fact that the roads were never plowed well nor in any sembalance of a timely fashion.

Some days, that was enough to drive him mad.

He must have slowed down even further, for another car swerved around him on his right side and sped off, leaving a screech to echo in his ears. Silver bit his lip and resisted the urge to yell.

"Oh yeah, pass me. That sounds great! Better yet, pass on the right! Cut through the bike lane. Who cares that both are illegal? Staying safe in icy conditions? What's that?" Silver bitterly conversed with the driver who had long since disappeared, taking great care in keeping his voice low. "Enjoy the ditch, loser."

As he merged into Azalea's main road, the traffic steadily increased. On one hand, he took relief in having other drivers around. The roads felt too similar to a ghost town that night, empty and forboading. The negative side of things was that with more on the road, there was a higher chance of collisions. It added more stress to his actions.

He tried to keep his cool and just drive with the flow. All of the drivers were moving faster than him and it quickly became apparent that many did not approve of his caution. Silver found himself muttering angrily to the back fender of cars that roared past him far too often. He didn't dare to drive any faster, despite the other drivers heckling him. If they wanted to spin out on ice, they could do that. Silver would much rather arrive at his destination in one piece. He drove past several unfortunate drivers whose cars were now stranded in the ditch. He mentally marked where he saw other drives slow down and expected ice patches at every slow spot.

It felt like hours had passed before Silver turned off of the busy Azalea mainway and entered the first of many Ilex roads. His tires _whirred_ below him as the unplowed snow and slush ran through his tires. The young man found himself hardly touching the gas pedal as he traced his way back home. The trees lining the roads blotted out the moon and casted dark blue shadows on the snow. It would have been beautiful if it had not been for the fact he had to safely navigate in said snow.

Eventually the roads turned into a singular dirt road. Silver sighed an audible sigh of relief and felt his shoulders ease slightly. He carefully drove his car down the lane until the dirt became his unpaved driveway. Not trusting his own driveway to be free of ice, he momentarily put his car in park and lifted his hands from the steering wheel. The redhead drew in a sharp breath when his hands remained tightly clenched in a gripping position. He leaned back and rubbed his knuckles as his hands ached.

"Frozen hands. Just what I wear gloves for," Silver muttered. He eventually reached above him and pressed a button on his garage door opener. His garage opened shortly after and Silver cautiously drove inside and parked his car for the night. With another sigh, he shut the door and slumped in his seat as every muscle in his body relaxed at once. "Hallelujah," he whispered with a smile. "It's over. Now it's time to stay home until spring."

Silver glanced over at the seat beside him and smiled fondly. Lyra was still sound asleep with her head pressed against the side of the car. He realized that he was going to have to wake her up and his smile died. With a final sigh, he opened his door and left his car. He walked over to Lyra's side and slowly opened her door. He made sure she wasn't about to fall out of the car before he unbuckled her seatbelt and gently tapped her arm.

"Lyra," he called softly. "Lyra, we're back."

The brunette weakly opened her eyes and stared at Silver. "Huh?" Lyra rubbed at her eyes and wobbily sat up. "We're... we're back?"

Silver nodded and extended his hand for her to take. "Yeah. The weather sucks but we made it. I'll leave your bike in the garage, but I'll probably have to drive you home tomorrow."

Lyra placed the blanket and gloves back in Silver's glove compartment and took his hand. Her boyfriend wasted no time in helping her to her feet and closing the car door behind her. "Yeah. That sounds good, Silv." The two walked to Silver's door and waited as Silver shifted through his keys to locate his house key. Lyra watched him for a moment before pointing to the Cyndaquil on his keychain. "It's the gold one, Silv. Right next to Cyndaquil."

Silver quickly took the key and unlocked his door. "Thank you," he said with a small smile. The couple quickly walked through the door and turned on the kitchen light. Lyra took off her boots and placed them on a rug beside the door as her boyfriend locked the door. They turned off the light after Silver took off his boots before they walked towards the stairway on the other end of the house.

"Do you want the guest room," Silver asked as they climbed the stairs to the second floor.

"I'll just share with you," Lyra replied. "It's too cold tonight to sleep alone."

Silver smiled and walked down the hall to his room. "Sounds great to me. Your pajamas are still in the dresser. I left them in the bottom drawer for you."

Lyra smiled. As they reached the door, she leaned towards him and gave him a slight kiss on his lips. She pulled away after a few moments with a soft smile still on her face. "Thanks." She paused in thought before smiling again. "Oh, and thanks for the movie date, Silver. I had a lot of fun today."

Silver grinned before leaning his head against hers for a moment. "Anytime. I'm glad you had fun, though."

The two then walked into the bedroom and shut the door behind them, eager to change clothes and sleep after a long day. Only moments after Silver's head touched his pillow, he fell asleep with a smile as Lyra slept beside him with her head against his chest.

* * *

 _Author's Note: I was listening to "Tear in my Heart" by Twenty One Pilots when I decided to write a thing loosely based on it, specifically complaining while driving when the person you love is sleeping on the ride home. It's not much but hey, any excuse to write soulsilvershipping is fine by me._


End file.
